Cutlery baskets are used in dishwashers to hold smaller items, e.g. cutlery in order to ensure effective cleaning of said items during washing operation. Typically, said cutlery baskets are formed lattice-like and comprise a plurality of compartments for receiving and holding said items in a vertical direction.
Depending on the country, in which a dishwasher is employed, cutlery baskets have different forms. For example, in the European market cutlery baskets are used, which comprise a rectangular base area, wherein the longitudinal side takes about the half of depth of the interior space of the dishwasher. In contrary thereto, the North American market prefers elongated cutlery baskets, which fit to the depth of the interior space of the dishwasher.
Korean patent application KR 20070066360 A discloses cutlery basket comprising two basket components, which are connected by a hinge portion. Thereby, it is possible to pivot one basket component with respect to the other basket component in order to arrange the cutlery basket in parallel configuration or in serial configuration.
A drawback of the known cutlery basket is that the cutlery basket consists of two different basket components, so, different tools for manufacturing said basket components are necessary. A further drawback of the known cutlery basket is the lack of a grip portion in the middle of the cutlery basket, if it is arranged in serial configuration. Thereby the handling of the cutlery basket is difficult. Finally, the arrangement of the cutlery basket in the respective configuration is laborious. Accordingly, there is a need for improvements regarding the manufacturing and handling of known cutlery baskets.